


Last Day on Earth

by remanth



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, F/M, Last Day On Earth, Steggy - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-14
Updated: 2015-07-14
Packaged: 2018-04-09 09:42:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4343627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remanth/pseuds/remanth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How would you spend your last day on Earth? Steve and Peggy both find out their own answers</p>
            </blockquote>





	Last Day on Earth

If it was your last day on Earth, what would you do? Spend it sight-seeing, going to all the places you wished you’d gone to before? Maybe with family and friends, with food and laughter and love? Or would you spend it by yourself, doing all of your favorite comfort activities? Or maybe you would just go on with your day, a day like any other day, because the last day was too much to contemplate? What if you didn’t have a choice, didn’t even know it was going to be your last until it was nearly over?

As soon as he realized what he had to do, Steve regretted all the time he would no longer have. The people he’d never see again, the words he’d never say. The life he wouldn’t live because he gave it, right here and now, for all the people he knew and all the people he didn’t. For all the people not born yet, so that they would never have to live in fear like many now did. It was a difficult sacrifice but it was one he’d expected to have to give at any time. Besides, there was a radio in the plane. He could still say goodbye.

“There’s no time,” Steve told Peggy, striving to keep his voice from breaking with fear and sorrow. “I gotta put her in the water.”

“No, there must be another way,” Peggy begged, tears rolling down her cheeks as she leaned into the microphone. “Let me get Howard, he can figure it out.”

“There’s no time,” Steve’s voice came across the line impossibly soft and tender. 

“Steve,” Peggy replied, swallowing hard as her throat closed up. There was silence for a few moments then, both of them fighting back sobs.

“You know, we never got that dance,” Steve finally said, looking over at the picture of Peggy he kept in the case of his compass. If this was his last day, he would spend it saying goodbye to the woman he was pretty sure he’d fallen in love with the first moment he saw her. He would spend it trying to ease her pain, trying to make her feel a little better when sorrow wanted to drown both of them.

“Then I’ll expect to see you, next Saturday,” Peggy replied, adding a touch of mock sternness to her voice. The shift in topic brought a small smile to her face, helped her be strong for however long they had left. She would play along, for both of them, because this was their final moment. “Eight o’clock. Don’t be late.”

“I still don’t know how to dance,” Steve replied. He could see white ice and gray ocean now through the viewport as the plane had made it through the cloud cover. His death was coming and it was terrifying. But no matter how much he trembled, his hands never moved from the controls, never wavered. This was the only way to save people, to save Peggy, and he would do it. 

“I’ll teach you,” Peggy said immediately, another small smile tugging at her lips. Part of her really believed it was going to happen, that she would see Steve again and they would dance. She would teach him the steps and chide him to not look at their feet. He might stumble at first, and blush at being so close to her, but they would eventually move as one. Steve was a quick learner and she was an excellent dancer. A tear traced its way down her cheek as her heart broke.

“We’ll have the band play something slow,” Steve said. The ocean was so close now, a cold death waiting to fold him into its depths and never let him go. He never looked away, never closed his eyes. Instead, he focused on the picture of Peggy and let himself believe he’d survive this. That this wasn’t his last day and he’d see her again. “I hope I don’t step....”

Peggy gasped quietly as Steve’s words cut out and changed to static. She said his name a few times, each time more desperate than the last, before finally knowing that he was never going to answer back. He was gone and this was the end of their goodbye. The man she’d fallen in love with was gone. There would be no dance next Saturday, no laughter as she taught him the steps, no breathless moment when their eyes met as they finally moved as one. The sobs came then as Peggy broke down, hot tears streaking down her face. A vague part of her that wasn’t consumed in her mourning was thankful that the others had left the room once she’d started talking with Steve. It was hard enough suffering through this loss by herself. She didn’t want others to see.

After a while, her tears slowed and the grief ebbed away a little bit. She knew it would come in waves for a while and accepted it. How could she not after how many people had been lost to this damned war already? Steve was a loss that was always going to haunt her but that couldn’t stop her from going on with her life. Even in his last moments, Steve had wanted her to live. Had died for her to live along with everyone else. Drying her eyes, Peggy took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. There was still so much work to be done, so many loose ends to tie up. She could give Steve this, give him the ending to the war he’d given everything for. Standing up, Peggy nodded once to the microphone, imagining Steve’s face in place of the electronics before her. Then, without a backward glance, Peggy left the room and continued working. Continued living.

\----------------------------------------

70 years. It had been 70 years since the last time Steve had been awake. To be honest, he was still marveling at the fact that he _was_ awake. He’d been prepared to sacrifice his life on that plane, had thought he’d done so the moment he crashed into the cold and the dark. Hearing Peggy’s voice had made it equally easier and harder to bear the knowledge. Easier because he wasn’t alone and harder because he was leaving her alone. He’d accepted his last day on earth knowing it was a sacrifice for the greater good. Turned out, it really hadn’t been his last day after all.

Getting used to this new world he found himself in was an ongoing experience. It was dizzying and terrifying and amazing and wonderful all at the same time. So many things were different but so many were still the same. People would be people, no matter how much time had passed. And it helped to know that the organization that had found him had been founded by Peggy and Howard. It felt like a piece of home, a piece of the life he used to live. Then Nick told him that Peggy was still alive. That she had lived her life and made it through the 70 years he’d been asleep.

At first, Steve had been reluctant to visit her. After all, he’d died. He’d said his goodbyes and had been gone from her life for so long. She’d moved on, lived a full life, and probably had relegated him to the dusty annals of memory. Why should he go see her and dig all that up? It wasn’t until Nick mentioned that Peggy still thought of him, that she still told stories of her time working with Captain America, that Steve decided to go visit.

He recognized her right away. She’d changed, grown older, but she was still the same Peggy he remembered. Still beautiful and bright and strong, even as she lay cradled in the hospital bed. She’d even recognized him right away, gasping as tears filled her eyes. They talked for hours about the old days, old friends, how things had changed, what Peggy had done with her life. They talked about the dance they both missed, Peggy insisting Steve help her out of the bed so that she could teach him to dance. Steve came back often, holding Peggy’s hand as they talked and fighting back tears whenever her Alzheimer’s made her forget that they’d already met again.

And then came Peggy’s last day on Earth. It was a quiet, warm day with birds calling outside her window. The window was open to let in the breeze and it rustled Peggy’s hair. Steve was holding her hand again, thumb rubbing gently over the back. They’d talked a little bit, Peggy reminiscing about missions with the Howling Commandos until she’d fallen asleep. After that, Steve had talked quietly to fill the silence. His fears, how much it hurt to know everyone was gone, how unsettling it was to be in this time that didn’t quite fit. He talked about how much he loved Peggy and wished that he had been there for her. Wished that they had been able to live the life that was waiting for them. He watched her face and kept talking even until the moment her breathing slowed and stopped.

On Peggy’s last day on Earth, she spent it with the man she loved telling stories. She spent it loved and cared for, hand cradled in a gentle grip. She didn’t know that this day was going to be her last but knew it was going to come soon. And the best part of it was that she got to see Steve again, got to tell him everything she wished she had had a chance to. There was no other way either would have spent their last days.


End file.
